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Servants of the Truth (Legion)
The Servants of the Truth were a Space Marine Legion created in the wake of the Horus Heresy built around fragments of the Blood Angels Legion. They served valiantly in the Second Great Crusade, but during the Nova Terra Interregnum they defected from the Imperium and fled to Segmentum Pacificus and the Nova Terra Regency. History In the dark times that followed the Siege of Terra, the Imperium sought out Astartes that were powerful and skilled enough to serve as Legion Masters of a new generation of Space Marine Legions. They found one such candidate in the Blood Angels' 10th Captain, Abdiel Tiberian. Upon his completion of the procedure, Abdiel was granted his own Company and several others to serve as the basis for a Second Founding Legion, the Paladins of Baal. Second Great Crusade The Paladins of Baal began their legacy following being stationed on their new homeworld of Battencia, some distance west of Baal, to recruit and build their numbers before taking to war in the Emperor's name. About 50 years past before they set forth to war, they set out towards the Eye of Terror, coming to the aid of Imperialis Auxilia units who were stuck in a war of attrition against Heretical forces in the Athena Sector. The arrival of the Paladins of Baal considerably changed the tide of the battle there. The veterans among the Astartes fought with the death of their Primarch fresh in their hearts, and they closed to melee quickly, showing no mercy to the Chaos worshippers that dare to stand before the Emperor's Angels. As they continued, dragging the Auxilia forces along behind them in a rapid offensive across the sector, the Paladins of Baal were countered by traitor warriors of the Emperor's Children Traitor Legion. Large detachments from both Legions met in one of the early Crusade's major battles in the Apaiba System. The Battle of Apaiba, which was fought on two planets as well as the system's void, proved a deadly one for both sides, with hundreds of Astartes dying and dozens of ships being destroyed in some of the fiercest fighting seen since the end of the Horus Heresy. In the end, however, the Paladins of Baal were victorious, and the Heretics were driven back towards the Eye of Terror. The VII Legion continued to skirmish around the Eye of Terror for several centuries, fighting against the Emperor's Children, Word Bearers and a variety of other traitorous forces. Then, the Legion split; one force headed west, with Abdiel Tiberian leading them to the Medusa Sector where he fought closely alongside the Iron Hands and their Primarch Ferrus Manus against a major Iron Warriors invasion. A long, protracted period of low-intensity warfare culminated in the Heretics being brought to battle and defeated in the Ebliath System, with the Primarch honoring the Paladins at a victory celebration afterwards. Meanwhile, another force had headed East, to the Western reaches of the Gothic Sector. Here, the Paladins of Baal fought with the remnants of the Chaos Night Lords, pushing through them into the Sector and coming into a period of conflict with Eldari Corsairs, waging an eventually victorious naval campaign. Nova Terra Interregnum Just over a millennium after the Legion set out on Crusade, an event happened that would forever change Galactic history. The Imperial client Ur-Council met on the world of Nova Terra to declare Segmentum Pacificus free of Imperial Rule. Abdiel Tiberian managed to receive word of this more swiftly than most, and he called his Legion back to Battencia to plan a response. Immediately, he began preparing the evacuation of Battencia in secret, knowing his intended course of action. He called a grand council on Battencia’s capital world, with the entire Legion command staff in attendance. There, he held a forum. This debate lasted hours, with different officers presenting different arguments for and against the new Nova Terra Regency, the Imperium seemed to have considerable support before the Legion Master himself was called to speak on it. When he took the podium at the center of the great chamber, he gave a legendary speech. In it, he renounced the Imperium, practically preaching of the evil of its new ways, and how it stood as anathema to what the Emperor, the liege this new Ecclesiarchy claimed to worship as its god, wanted for his Imperium. By the time he had finished, the opinion in the room had shifted completely, and there was overwhelming support to defect to the Nova Terra Regency… overwhelming, but not absolute. Some Paladins of Baal stood by the Imperium, decrying the Nova Terra Regency as traitors no worse than those they had fought during the Horus Heresy. An extremely tense and emotionally charged standoff ensued. The factions had ever reason to fire upon each other, but they did not. No Astartes wanted to pull the trigger on those they had called Brother for centuries. Eventually, Abdiel Tiberian called another council, meeting personally with those who wished to stay loyal, alone. They came to an agreement, that the Loyalists in the Legion would stay at Battencia and allow the Traitorous elements to begin their journey towards Segmentum Pacific unmolested. The Traitors didn’t want a battle, and the Loyalists knew they couldn’t win one, so it was agreed upon. Much of Battencia’s population, fearful of Imperial retribution once the treachery was announced to the world, fled alongside the Legion, on their own ships or the Legions’. It is not known what became of the Loyalist Paladins of Baal. The Paladins of Baal who had decided to follow their Legion Master, and the ideals of the Imperium, left their home quickly, for they knew the Imperium would be after them as soon as news had spread. The Imperium indeed did chase them, and the Paladins were forced to offer a fighting retreat towards the Nova Terra Regency. The Imperial Navy and indeed the fleets of the various Legiones Astartes who had not turned their back on the Imperium brought them to battle several times, but each time they managed to escape after securing a tactical victory. Eventually, they managed to link up with the forces of their old comrades in the Iron Hands, and this combined fleet was able to freely move into Nova Terra space. Upon their arrival, Abdiel decreed that since they had, despite a just cause, moved to war against their father’s home, they could no longer be the Paladins of Baal. It was elected that they would be rechristened after the parting words of the speech that had persuaded them down this path, they would become the Servants of the Truth, serving the Emperor’s secular truth as any true son of His would. The Nova Terra Regency welcomed the Servants of the Truth with open arms. They proved extremely accommodating of the Legion and its host of civilian refugees, granting it the planet of Tiuvis, or, as it became known after they took control, Nova Battencia. When the people of Battencia settled there, they brought with it the world’s rich culture, and soon the planet was truly able to live up to its name. Even as the great walls of their new bastion, named in honor of their fallen Father, were being raised, they prepared to make war, in the name of the Emperor and his Regents. Notable Campaigns Legion Homeworld Legion Fortress-Monastery Legion Culture Legion Organisation Officer Ranks Specialist Ranks Line Ranks Legion Recruitment Legion Combat Doctrine Legion Beliefs Notable Servants of the Truth Legion Appearance Legion Colours Legion Badge Legion Fleet Legion Relics Relations Allies Enemies Notable Quotes By the Servants of the Truth Feel free to add your own About the Servants of the Truth Category:Nova Terra Regency Category:Space Marines